This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Fr. Matteo Ricci. To commemorate his contribution to East-West cultural exchange and reinforce its commitment to its public service ideals, the National Central Library of Taiwan along with the Taipei Ricci Institute invite you to attend the conference of Professor Nicolas Standaert, S.J. (Leuven University): "Sino-European Displacements: The Circulation of Prints between Europe and China". The conference will be held on April 16th in Taipei, at the briefing room of the National Central Library. Professor Standaert is one of the world’s foremost experts on cultural exchanges between Europe and China during the Late Ming and Early Qing dynasties, and will give a richly illustrated conference – do not miss it!

Also, by attending this conference you will have the opportunity to be among the first to visit the exhibit around Matteo Ricci held at the aforesaid Library: The Jesuits’ Encounter with Chinese Scholars: A Meeting of East and West -- An Exhibition Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of Matteo Ricci. The Institute has been associating with Taiwan National Central Library and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for organizing this exhibit which includes images of pieces held in the treasured collections of the Vatican Library, the headquarters of the Society of Jesus in Rome, the Archives of the Society of Jesus, and the Pontificia Università Gregoriana. The exhibit takes place in a new research room into which the library of the Institute has now been transferred. This research room is also dedicated to the new research focus of the Institute: the development of Pacific studies in Taiwan. (More information here).

Also, on April 20 at 2.30pm, Gjon Kolndrekaj, the director of the documentary film “Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit in the Realm of the Dragon,” and Prof. Antonella Tulli of the Department of Italian Language and Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University have been invited to hold a symposium on the film.

We hope that you will join us for one or all these events, register here or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

Mei-fang Tsai,

General Manager of Taipei Ricci Institute

Sino-European Displacements: The Circulation of Prints between Europe and China

Mei-fang was one the project managers in charge of the participants and the host families. She tells us more about the selection process:

This program was aimed at inviting “international young people” to Taiwan, in this way, we hoped to spread the word about Taiwan’s hospitality and culture. We promoted this program through the use of various social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Plurk, Twitter and so on. Many university professors were also very enthusiastic in helping to promote this program to other universities around the world. Many other organizations including JCI (Junior Chamber International), AISEC, and Rotary International helped us to promote this program through their worldwide networks of members, and their members in Taiwan also took part by hosting our guests. AIESEC’s young college members also joined our volunteer groups.

During the process, the organizers noticed that using the internet to promote the program caused some problems for countries with a lack of convenient Internet access. As a result, we delayed the closing date for applications, allowing more countries to become aware of this activity and to be able to participate. We tried our best not to make the Internet become a tool which excluded people in the course of the project.

We had a large number of applicants this time, yet the organizers already had set in place a selection panel consisting of nine adjudicators, our criteria were as follows: familiarity with the internet, experience with other cultures, we also took into consideration their motivation for taking part and their plan for promoting the project in their own community.

When we were contacting the selected international youths, an invitee from Bolivia, Central American, mailed us and said that he was really excited. He told us that he had a preference for a coastal city because he could not see the ocean in his own country. Taiwan is, obviously, an island country, but in order to attain a placement close to the coast for our Bolivian invitee, we arranged a host family for him on Matsu. He was very pleased when he was notified, and he loved the two weeks of his homestay, appreciating the culture and enjoying the natural beauty of Matsu.

The build-up to ROC Taiwan's "International Youth Week - Centennial Homestay" has begun, with SayTaiwan calling for 250 participants from over one hundred countries, for this one off opportunity to experience the various colours and moods of this beautiful island. For the event that will be held over 12th-25th August, applicants are encouraged to send an optional video, 3-5 minutes in length, introducing themselves, along with the relevant documents before April 15th 2011.

In the Taiwanese dialect Seh-daiwan (遊台灣) means 'wander Taiwan'. SayTaiwan aims to promote Taiwan abroad, by giving these lucky individuals the chance to see for themselves what a beautiful, friendly and safe place Taiwan is. The winning participants will live with local families in different areas of Taiwan...one lucky visitor will even get the opportunity to run in the park with Vice Premier Chen and his beloved dog. Asides from home staying with local families, the participants will be expected to report about their experiences in Taiwan through blogs, social networking and other internet mediums. Finally all the participants will travel to the very fringe of Taiwan, as they visit Kinmen Island, home of Taiwan's favourite sorghum wine - Kinmen Kaoliang - and just two kilometres from mainland China. There they will attend the "ROC Centennial Peace Day in Kinmen" and a farewell banquet.

During the opening press conference, journalists, government officials and some foreign guests were treated to a unique and lively Taiwanese dance performance. Afterwards Jasmine Brown, a Belizean student at National Taiwan Normal University, the home of the biggest Mandarin language centre in Taiwan, was asked to give her thoughts on Taiwan. "Taiwan is a beautiful country" she replied, before throwing praise on how "extremely safe" and "convenient" Taiwan was for her regular 3am journeys to convenience stores and fast food joints. She also expressed gratitude for how "friendly and helpful" the people on Taiwan were, giving a personal example:

"My little brother came to visit me in Taipei, and on his way back to Taipei from Tainan, he forgot his wallet in the Taxi. So he went back to Tainan and then he realised he didn't have his wallet. The taxi driver took his wallet to the police station and the police officer found his ID card from the Taekwondo teacher that my brother has. The Taekwondo teacher called and told my little brother that the card was safely back in Taipei. In any other country your wallet would be gone, but not in Taipei."

But Taiwan is more than midnight snacking, Yoyo cards and metropolitan safe havens. Indeed there is much that the world can learn from Taiwan. It is one of the most advanced technology hubs in the world, uniquely positioned to share its culture and society through Asia and the Pacific; its demographic landscape is a sea of diversity, with over ten languages still spoken in Taiwan, even more native ethnic groups, and very healthy Austronesian, Hakka and Chinese arts scenes all coexisting harmoniously together; finally, it is the home of bubble or pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶), a fact not lost on those who received their own bubble tea as a leaving present. Taiwan also has much to learn from the rest of the world and will greatly look forward to the stories and experiences of their visiting friends.

On the 8th and 9th November 2010, Taipei County Government (soon to be known as Xinbei City), the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) and the Taipei Ricci Institute jointly organised an International Summit on Climate Change and Low Carbon Metropolises which took place at the seat of the Taipei County Government in Banqiao City.